The Strength Of Your Love
by Jaimee
Summary: Mulder and Scully are shot, but love is a powerful thing...


Title - The Strength of Your Love  
  
Author - Jaimee Kidder  
  
Email - SpecialAgentDana@aol.com  
  
Rating - R (for blood & gore and general violence)  
  
Classification - SA  
  
Spoilers - none  
  
Keywords - Character death  
  
Summary - Mulder and Scully are shot, but love is a powerful   
thing...  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah, really...for every person who reads this   
story, I magically receive $5. Just kidding, FOX...anyway, NO   
I'm not making money from this story, and I have no claims to   
any characters on The X-Files that I borrow for six pages   
here. I do admit to personal (however deluded) claims on a   
certain *very* handsome fictional F.B.I. agent named Mulder.   
But anyway. FOX, 1013 Productions, and Chris Carter   
(otherwise known as THE MAN) own it all. All theirs.  
Good enough, now on with the show...  
==========  
  
  
"Come, cuddle your head on my shoulder, dear,   
Your head like the golden-rod,   
And we will go sailing away from here   
To the beautiful land of Nod."  
  
=========================  
Arlington, Virginia  
12:42 a.m.  
=========================  
  
The sniper leaned closer out the window, his prey in view. He   
peered through the gun sight, trying to find a way to get a   
clear shot at either of his two targets. He could barely see   
her through the window, farther back in the room than the man   
was. The man would be easy to shoot where he now stood, but   
the woman was still too far away, and he had to take them both   
if he was to survive the night.  
  
He waited. Patience had always been one of his strong points.  
  
=========================  
  
Scully stood stiffly in the center of Mulder's living room,   
her arms crossed across her chest impatiently. "Mulder, this   
is ridiculous."   
  
"Scully, I don't want you to leave," Mulder said firmly,   
standing with his back to the window. There was a scrap of   
paper in his hand.  
  
"It's late, I'm tired, and I want to go home. I can take care   
of myself, Mulder."  
  
He held up the piece of paper, showing her what was written on   
it for the tenth time. "If someone left a note under your   
door saying 'Your partner is not safe,' you'd have been   
concerned, too."  
  
She sighed, knowing he was right -- she would have -- but she   
hated feeling helpless. Giving in to danger's threats was   
simply not in her nature. But finally she relented, and sat   
down on the edge of Mulder's couch.  
  
=========================  
  
The sniper growled. Still too far away. If only something   
could make them both come to the window...  
  
Well, he could manage that.  
  
=========================  
  
Mulder stood by the window, his sharp eyes taking in   
everything despite the fact that he wasn't really paying   
attention. Maybe she was right. No --  
  
"Mulder," she said suddenly, curiosity and a smile plain in   
her voice. "Where are your fish?"  
  
He turned around, a mischievous grin suddenly spreading across   
his face. "I haven't--"  
  
Just then, a brilliant light poured through his window. He   
spun around to look, shielding his eyes from the glare.   
"Scully...?"  
  
She slowly stood and walked to the window. He backed up a few   
steps, motioning for her to stand in front of him. She was so   
short without her shoes on; he could easily see over her head.  
  
"It looks like it's coming from the apartment across the   
street," she observed. He squinted. "Scully, I think there's   
someone in there...look."  
  
She held her hand up to block the light so she could see   
better. She could just barely distinguish the silhouette of a   
person, but it was there. "I think you're right, Mulder--"   
she began, then stopped as a flash of something red caught her   
eye. She looked down. A small red pinpoint of light was   
tracing across her upper abdomen. Like a...like a laser. The   
light across the street went off.  
  
She opened her mouth to tell Mulder to get down, to warn him.   
Time seemed to slow to a sickening, sluggish speed. The   
window split in an instant's flash of fire and metal, and she   
heard the glass on the fish tank crack apart. She felt water   
gushing around her face and shards of glass, sharp against her   
arm, and only then realized she was lying on the floor.  
  
After a few moments of nothing, no thoughts, no pain, she   
opened her eyes and understood what had happened. Someone had   
shot at them through the window.  
  
Mulder.  
  
She rolled over and struggled to push herself to a half-  
sitting position. He was on the floor behind her, his grey t-  
shirt now stained crimson. Her mind racing, she quickly   
lowered her ear to his chest, and let her breath out in a rush   
as she heard his heart beating. His eyes were open, and she   
leaned over him to look into his face.  
  
"Mulder? Talk to me, Mulder," she said, her breath coming   
strangely short. He blinked, and his eyes focused, and   
finally met her face as she pushed his shirt up to reveal a   
massive gunshot wound to his chest. She was unable to hold   
back a stunned gasp, and he looked at her, alarmed. "Wh--"  
  
"You've been shot. Probably by whoever was in that apartment   
across the street." He sat up slowly, shutting his eyes   
tightly against the pain, and leaned his back against the   
couch as she pulled her jacket off and pressed it to his   
stomach. "Try to hold that there," she said, looking around   
for something else, anything that she could use to slow the   
flow of blood. The blanket on the couch.   
  
She tried to stand, but found for some reason she couldn't   
without supporting herself by leaning on the coffee table. As   
she pulled the blanket off the couch arm and stumbled back to   
Mulder, he looked at her and his eyes widened a fraction.   
"Scully..." He gestured, suddenly breathless.  
  
She looked down to see something dark and glistening spreading   
across the front of her shirt. Shaking, she touched a hand to   
her upper abdomen; her fingers came away sticky with fresh   
blood. A sudden wave of pain overwhelmed her, and she   
collapsed in a crunch of broken glass next to Mulder on the   
floor.  
  
Her vision blurred once, then came into focus again to see   
Mulder leaning over her, unbuttoning her shirt. "Is it bad?"   
she asked huskily, not really caring about anything but the   
pain.  
  
He met her eyes, then reluctantly nodded. "The bullet went in   
here --" he gestured to the spot he was now pressing the   
blanket to, between her heart and the bottom of her ribcage.   
"I think it somehow caused one of your ribs to puncture a   
lung," he said slowly. "You've been having real trouble   
breathing." He was shaking and looked pale. His teeth were   
clenched; she could tell he was in excruciating pain.  
  
She pushed herself up against the couch and pulled the blanket   
to cover him. It was Mulder who was the real concern, she   
thought. If they didn't get help in time, he would die from   
loss of blood. It was then she remembered the phone, and   
reached up to Mulder's coffee table to pick up the portable.  
  
"911, what is your emergency?"  
  
"This is...Special Agent Dana Scully...my partner and I have   
been shot..." she gasped, then covered her mouth as she   
suddenly began coughing violently. She opened her mouth to   
speak again, but Mulder slipped the phone out of her fingers   
and began to speak to the operator. She looked down at her   
hand, splashed with scarlet, and realized the blood on it had   
come when she coughed.  
  
She heard the click of the phone as Mulder hung up. "They're   
on their way," he whispered, dropping the phone to the floor;   
as it fell, she noticed with a strange sense of calm that it   
was covered with blood. Mulder spread the other half of the   
blanket over Scully. His arm brushed against her cheek; it   
felt oddly cold and damp and was trembling. She looked at   
him. His face was grey and he was breathing heavily. She   
didn't need the blanket, she thought to herself, and pressed   
it down onto his chest. Her mind was numb, and the only other   
thing she could think to do for him was to keep him warm. She   
lay down on top of him, her head on his shoulder, reaching up   
shakily to stroke his arm. "Hold on," she murmured, her voice   
barely audible. She tried to hold back a cough, but it burst   
out anyway, and she nearly choked on a surge of blood. Mulder   
looked down at her, his eyes filling with concern.   
  
She looked up, wiping away a trickle of blood running out of   
the corner of her mouth, and then began coughing again, the   
tremors ripping agonizingly through her chest. Her head fell   
back onto his shoulder, and she closed her eyes. Sleep seemed   
so inviting, like a warm robe in a freezing room, and she   
drifted towards it slowly. Through the fog she could hear   
Mulder's faint voice, calling her back. "Scully! Wake up,   
Scully...you have to wake up," he said, his voice raw and   
weak. His hands were on her shoulders, and reluctantly she   
opened her eyes to feel blood thickening in her mouth. She   
shivered, pulling herself closer to him. So this was how it   
would end.  
  
He looked down tenderly at her, and his hand came up to stroke   
her hair. His eyes were beginning to glaze, and the blanket   
was completely soaked through already. Pushing it aside with   
a shudder of fear, she put one hand over the wound and reached   
for a pillow with the other. She could hear his heartbeat, in   
rhythm with the blood pulsing out of him, blood that ran   
warmly through her fingers as she kept her hand tightly   
pressed to his chest. "Thank you," he murmured thickly, his   
voice sounding strange and slurred, and his hand slipped   
loosely off her head. She looked up in alarm. His head had   
fallen limply to one side and his eyelids were halfway closed.  
  
"Mulder!" she said, as loud as she could, and then had to gasp   
for breath, trying desperately to fill her lungs despite the   
unbearable pain. She held the pillow tightly to his chest   
with one hand, and used the other to stroke his face. He was   
freezing cold. His eyes were open again, at least, but to her   
dismay she realized they were glassy and unfocused. He was   
losing consciousness. "Mulder, wake up," she said again,   
sharply, and his eyes opened again. As she saw the tears in   
his eyes, on his cheeks, she became aware that tears were   
pouring down her face. He's dying, she thought with a shock.   
Before she knew what she was saying, the words were already   
out of her mouth.  
  
"Mulder...I love you, Mulder," she sobbed, watching the life   
slowly drain out of him. He was covered in blood, some of it   
hers, but most of it his. Their eyes locked, and for an   
instant, his eyes cleared. He nodded, the motion   
infinitesimally small but full of meaning, and his lips   
struggled towards a smile. As she looked into his eyes,   
seeing them begin to dull, she was dimly aware of the sound of   
rushing feet down the hall.  
  
"Mulder...!" she cried, as she watched his chest slowly stop   
rising and falling and felt his body go slack. She coughed   
again, painfully, ignoring the blood that filled her mouth.   
"Mulder...please...." She pressed herself against him, trying   
to somehow impart to him strength, her only remaining   
strength, whatever she had. She was so cold, and her   
breathing sounded harsh and shallow. It didn't matter what   
happened to her, she thought, if only he could live. She lay   
on his chest, ignoring the pain in her own, tears and blood   
mixed on her face, pressing her faintly beating heart to his   
still one. He had to live...  
  
She shuddered involuntarily, as if something had been taken   
out of her, and felt herself fall completely limp onto the   
blood-covered floor.   
  
Then something...shifted. She saw with dimming vision the   
paramedics running into the room and felt two strong arms   
around her supporting her. A wave of pain hit her and her   
eyes blurred. She could feel her blood pouring from her   
chest. It was cold...and...she...couldn't...breathe; then a   
grey film came to rest over her eyes, and all was night.  
  
  
=========================  
8:36 a.m.  
=========================  
  
The familiar sound of a heart monitor was the first thing   
Scully heard as she slowly drifted to consciousness. Then she   
heard his voice, calling her back.  
  
"Scully? Doctor..."  
  
She opened her eyes, seeing blurrily at first. She was lying   
in a hospital bed, a doctor was looking at her closely while   
checking her vitals...and Mulder was sitting in a wheelchair   
beside her bed.  
  
"Mulder..." she wheezed, so tired she didn't even try to sit   
up. The doctor eyed her, and then glanced at Mulder. "I'll   
leave you two alone," he said quietly, then left the room.  
  
Mulder grinned at her. "Welcome back," he murmured, leaning   
over to brush a loose strand of hair out of her face. She   
closed her eyes, trying to remember why she was in a hospital.   
"What happened?" she whispered.  
  
"You don't remember?" Mulder asked. She shook her head   
wearily. "You were at my apartment and someone shot through   
my window. You almost died, Scully," he said quietly. "The   
bullet went into your chest and caused your right lung to   
collapse, and the combination of loss of blood and lack of   
oxygen nearly killed you." She remembered now, but...it   
didn't seem right. She hadn't been shot in the chest, he had,   
and...  
  
"But you...Mulder, you were the one who was nearly killed."  
  
He frowned. "No, Scully, I lost a little blood, but that's   
all." He pulled up his sleeve, exposing a neat white bandage   
just below his shoulder. Seeing her disbelief, he continued.   
"The paramedics said it was a miracle you were alive at all,   
you had lost so much blood. You were completely unconscious   
when they arrived." He swallowed. "I was really afraid for   
you, Scully."  
  
She was quiet for a minute, knowing she would never fully   
understand what had happened. It was impossible, a   
miracle...and yet here they were. She had had the strength of   
his love.  
  
She smiled inwardly. "Thank you." He leaned over to kiss her   
forehead. "What for?" he asked softly.  
  
"For...being there with me," she said, aware of how inadequate   
her words were. He looked at her deeply, both filled with the   
realization of how close they had come to losing each other.   
"Scully...you know..." He trailed off, unable to finish his   
thought. She smiled and took his hand, and he met her eyes.   
  
"Anytime."  
  
  
=========================  



End file.
